Luggage latch



.Feb. 16, 1943. M.`| MARSH 2,311,298

LUGGAGE LATCH Filed Feb. 7, l1941' v zsheets-sheet 1 Feb. 16, 1943.

M. L. MARSH LUGGAGE LATCH Filed Feb. 7 1941 2 sheets-sheet 2 jgE] Suma/Wto@ Mz. TGA/. MASH Sum M16 Patented Feb. 16, 1943 UNiTE STATES fren-r orgies LUGGAGEi LATCH Application February 7, 1941, Serial No. 377,776

2 Claims.

the escutcheon button and hasp of latches now in common use.

A still further object is to provide a latch suitable for the aforementioned use which will automatically latch upon the movement ofthe closure member to closed position and which includes means for positively opening the latch upon release thereof.

A still further object is a latch wherein mostA of the parts comprise metal stampings and whichV is so constructed as to permit rapid assembly, thus producing a latch which is both economical and convenient to manufacture.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements,v

and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a latch embodying the invention herein and in mounted position on a piece. of luggage;

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front view of Fig. 1 with the forward casing plate removed;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with parts of the latch removed to more clearly disclose the locking means and the spring pressed opening means;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal cross sectional view showing the latch with the parts in latch-ed position; l

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, the latch, generally designated as L, comprises generally a boltcarrying member lil adapted vto be secured `to the-.body portion A of a piece of luggage or -the like anda keeper-carrying member-l Z-a-daptedto be secured to the closure member B of the piece of luggage and movable therewith into and out of latching engagement with member I0.

More particularly, the bolt-carrying member lll comprises a casing Il having areCtangular front plate I4 and side walls I6 extending inwardly from the side edges thereof. Integral with the side walls and bent laterally to parallel the front plate are a plurality of tabs I8 for positioning a rear plate 2U. As best seen in Fig. 6, the tabs I8 have openings 22 alignable with threaded openings 24 in the rear plate 2U, whereby upon the insertion of suitable screws the member l0 may be secured to the article upon which it is mounted and the rear plate held rigidly fixed relative to the front plate. To complete the bolt dasing, the upper edge of the front plate i4 is turned rearwardly to provide a flange 26, and the upper edge of the rear plate 2l) is turned forwardly to provide a flange 28 (see Fig. 5); the opposed edges of the flanges 2B and 23 being spaced from one another to define a keeper-receiving opening 3i).

Mounted within the bolt-carrying member Il] is a vertically disposed bolt 32, which, in the embodiment illustrated, comprises a relatively wide rectangular body member 34 carrying at its upper end a forwardly projecting transverse retaining or latching finger 36 and secured at its lower end to the top edge of the free forward leg it of a U-shaped spring member 38. As best seen in Fig. 5, the rear leg 42 of the spring is positioned behind spaced lugs 44 (see Fig. 4) stamp-ed out from the rear plate 20, and the upper edge of the leg 42 is turned rearwardly to provide a lip 46 receivable within a transverse slot cut in the rear plate 20. In this manner, the spring supports and positions the bolt with the latching finger 35 disposed below and in alignment with the keeper opening 3U.

In order to conveniently operate the bolt 32, there is provided in the front plate I4 a rectangular :opening i8 for receiving a bolt-actuating member 5B. The bolt-actuating member 5E] is also rectangular, having a central portion 52 of greater dimension than the opening 48, a forward portion 54 which extends into the opening 43 and but slightly beyond the front face of the plate I4, and a rear portion 56 seated within a complementary recess 58 provided in the forward face of the bolt body member 34. It will be noted that when the member 50 is positioned. in the opening 48, the rear portion 55 is seated within the complementary recess of the bolt member, and; as -the.bolt.:member .-is. normally .urged-'to its latching position the bolt also functions to maintain the member 50 properly located within the casing.y When so located, upon pushing the member 50 inwardly, the bolt will be urged against the tension of the spring 38 towards unlatched position, and although the front face of the member 50 will extend inwardly ofthe casing, movement of the member 50 relative to the other parts will be prevented due to its being seated within the bolt recess which is always being urged forwardly and into contacting engagement with same. Obviously upon taking the pressure off the member 50, the spring 38 will function to return the bolt to latched position and the member 50 to its normal position within the opening 48.

Considering the structure to this point, it is obvious that the casing members may consist of metal stampings of any suitable metal which may subsequently be finished to give a pleasing appearance. In like manner, the other parts may be stamped from any suitable metal, and, if desired, the bolt-actuating member may be made of a plastic or the like and in a color contrasting to that of the casing. Likewise, by constructing the casing in the manner described, the bolt 32 and its supporting spring 38 may be initially assembled on the back plate, and then, after loosely positioning the member 50k within the opening 48, the back plate and bolt, may be slid into assembled position. If the latch is not to be immediately secured to a piece of lugage, the casing members may be secured together in any suitable way to rigidly hold the parts in assembled position.

To cooperate with the bolt-carrying member, the keeper-carrying member |2 also comprises a casing I3 having a rectangular front plate 60 and side walls 62 extending inwardly from the side edges thereof. Integral with the side walls and bent laterally to parallel the front plate are tabs 64 for positioning a rear plate 66. The tabs 64 and the rear plate 66 may also be provided with aligned openings 22 and 24 corresponding to those of the bolt-carrying member for receiving suitable screws to secure the keeper-carrying member to the article upon which it is mounted.

To complete the keeper-carrying member, the lower edge of the front plate 60 is turned rearwardly to provide a flange 68 adapted to overlie the ange 26 of the bolt-carrying member, and the lower edge of the rear plate 66 is turned forwardly to provide a flange adapted to overlie the flange 28 of the bolt-carrying member. Also formed integral with the forward flange 68 and depending from the inner edge thereof is a keeper l2, which keeper is of such length and is so positioned that it extends through the keeper-receiving opening 30 and into the bolt-carrying member I0. end of the keeper '|2 may be turned forwardly to provide a cammed strike i4 which will engage the upper cammed edge 'I6 of the bolt-retaining nger 36 to cam the bolt rearwardly as the parts are moved towards latching engagement. Above the strike 1.4.the keeper has cut therein an opening 18 for receiving the bolt-retaining nger 36, which when aligned therewith will be automatically moved into same, thus latching the parts together.

In order to assure a positive opening of the latch upon the movement of the latch bolt to unlatched position and also to take up any play in the latch, there is also carried by the keeper- For `convenience in operation, the lower carrying member |2 spring pressed means 80 comprising a plunger 82 mounted in the keepercarrying member and normally urged outwardly therefrom by a spring 84. More particularly, the plunger 82 (see Fig. 4) is a relatively flat strip of metal having a tongue 86 extending through a slot 88 cut in the flange 10. The plunger is slidably mounted within spaced lugs 90 stamped out from the rear plate 66, .and the center portion thereof is cut away to provide an upwardly positioned spring-holding nger 92 for receiving the lower end of the, spiral spring 84. The spiral spring 84 is retained on the finger 92 by positioning its upper end beneath an inwardly turned lip 94 stamped from the rear plate 66 and is secured by having the end of the spring projecting through a suitable opening provided in the lip.

With the spring-pressed means so mounted, the spring 84 will normally urge the plunger outwardly of the slot 88, whereupon when the latch members are moved to latching position the plunger will engage against the flange 28 of the bolt-carrying member to place the spring 84 under compression, and exert a force tending to normally move the keeper away from the bolt. Thus if there is any play between the bolt and the keeper, the latter will be urged upwardly into positive restraining relation with the bolt-restraining linger 36, and, upon moving the bolt to unlatched position, the compressed spring 84 will then urge the plunger outwardly to move the keeper away from the bolt, assuring a positive opening of the latch.

It is also apparent that the keeper-carrying member, like the bolt-carrying member, may consist of metal stampings which may be readily assembled into a unit by initially assembling the spring-pressed means onto the back plate and then sliding the back plate into position relative to the front plate.

As it is also desirable in latches of this type to have means for locking same in latched position, there may also be` provided any suitable locking means for holding the latching bolt against movement when in latched position. Although any suitable type of locking means could be utilized, that shown comprises a circular plate 96 rotatably mounted on a boss 8l inturned from the rear plate 20 of the bolt-carrying member. The plate 96 carries a forwardly projecting locking bolt 98 adapted upon rotation of the plate in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, to be moved into the path of the latching bolt and, upon clockwise rotation, to be moved out of the path; the clockwise rotation being limited by the lower edge of the bolt 88 engaging against a stop |00 secured on the bolt body member 34 In order to rotate the plate 96, there is further provided thereon tumblers v|02 and |04 arranged at rigth angles to one another and adapted to be engaged by the tang |06 of a suitable key |08.

To permit the insertion of the key, the member 50 and bolt 32 are provided with a key-receiving opening ||0 in alignment with an opening 2 provided in the plate 96 for centering the key |08. With this arrangement, upon the insertion of the key and turning it in a counterclockwise direction, the tang |06 will engage the tumbler |02 and rotate the plate 96 counterclockwise to position the lock bolt 88 behind the latch bolt 32; the counterclockwise rotation being limited by the tumbler |04 engaging against the stop |00.

Obviously, to open the,

lock, the key will be rotated in a clockwise direction, whereby the key tang |06 will engage the tumbler |04, whereupon the plate will be rotated in a clockwise direction to remove the locking bolt 98 from the path of the latching bolt.

In order to restrain the plate 96 against movement except when the key is inserted, there is further provided a leaf spring ||4 having its lower end secured behind a tab H6 stamped out from the back plate and its upper end provided with a concave restraining finger ||8 receivable within concave notches |20 and |22 provided in the periphery of the plate 96. As indicated, the notches |20 and |22 are spaced 90 apart, whereby the spring and notches will cooperate to hold the plate against rotation when it is in either its locked or unlocked position.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the latch is self-contained in that the bolt-carrying member and keeper-carrying member cooperate to provide in effect a single casing having a back and front plate spaced relatively close to one another and Ibetween which the entire latch mechanism is assembled. Inasmuch as the front face of the bolt-actuating member 50 is substantially ilush with the front face of the casing, the overall height of the latching mechanism is approximately that of the common latch now in use and wherein a part is mortised within the bag upon which it is secured and the escutcheon button and hasp extend beyond said face. As is apparent, the back plate of the As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently Widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope 4of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A latch comprising a casing having front and rear walls, a bolt disposed within said casing, a U-shaped spring for supporting said bolt and normally urging it to latched position, said bolt being secured to one leg of said spring and the other leg of said spring being secured to the latch disclosed herein is fiat and may be readily secured to the luggage parts. Furthermore, due to the fact that the bolt and bolt-actuating member are entirely contained within the latch and the keeper is offset and likewise entirely contained within the latch when in latched position, there are no parts projecting beyond the face of the latch.

To further enhance the appearance of the device, the front plates I4 and 60 may be coextensive relative to one another to provide a concave contour of the outer front plate relative to the back plate. In like manner, the adjacent edges of the keeper-carrying member and the bolt-carrying member may be given a curvature convex relative to the bottom of the latch, thus adding to the appearance of same.

rear wall of the casing, an opening in the front wall of said casing, an actuating member loosely disposed in said opening, said actuating member having a flange disposed interior of the casing and of greater dimension than said opening for retaining said member within the casing and having a portion interior of said flange and seated within a recess provided in said bolt, whereby said member will be maintained in proper alignment with the opening in the casing upon depressing the member to actuate the bolt.

2. A` latch comprising a casing having front and rear walls, a bolt disposed entirely within said casing and vertically arranged therein, means supporting said bolt comprising a spring secured at one end to the bolt and at its other end to the rear wall of the casing, whereby said bolt may be flexed to and from latched position, and a spring-actuating member loosely disposed within said casing forwardly of said bolt and above the connection between the bolt and said spring land having a part extending outwardly of the casing through an opening provided in the front wall thereof, said spring means normally urging the bolt into engagement with said member for retaining it in proper position in alignment with said front wall opening.

Y MILTON L. MARSH. 

